Batter mixes formulated to provide crispy fried products or pre-fried products when baked in an conventional oven do not produce crispy pre-fried products when the batter-coated food is microwaved instead. In conventional heating of food, for example, frying by direct flame or baking by heated air, the heat source causes food molecules to react from the surface inward thus heating successive layers in turn. As such, the outside of a foodpiece coated with a batter receives more exposure to cooking temperatures than the interior of the foodstuff and a crispy outer coating can be attained. Microwave radiation, in contrast, penetrates a foodpiece and sets water and other polar molecules in motion at the same time. Heat is generated throughout the foodpiece rather than being passed by conduction from the surface inward. As a result, the internal moisture of the foodpiece is boiled away and the steam acts to cook the entire food piece from the interior outward. This movement of moisture outward toward the surface causes an outer batter coating on a food product to be undesirably soggy and gummy. As a result, there is essentially no surface browning or crusting of the foodstuff. In cases where microwave heating is used and a browned crust is desired, microwaving must be preceded, accompanied or followed by a conventional type of heating of the foodstuff.
Many attempts have been made to formulate coatings for foodstuffs to control the moisture migration between the foodstuff and the outer coating in order to provide a foodstuff which remains crispy when microwaved. Presently, there are a number of batter compositions and methods for coating fresh and frozen foodstuffs which are later reconstituted by microwave cooking. In an attempt to retard the movement of moisture from the food portion to the breading component, and to assist in adhesion of the wet batter layer to the food substrate, several methods employ a predust layer to coat the surface of foodstuff with a dry composition. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,675,197 and 4,755,392 to Banner, et al. describe a three-component food coating composition, including a predust layer, a batter layer and a breading layer, which is applied successively to raw or precooked food. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,684 to D'Amico, et al. discloses a two-step coating for foodstuffs which involves applying a dry predust layer to the food and then coating it with an aqueous farinaceous-based and high amylose flour-containing batter mix.
Batters for coating dough-covered foodstuffs which are frozen and later reconstituted by microwave radiation or in a conventional oven have also been formulated. U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,994 to Bernacchi, et al. is directed to a method for preparing batter coated frozen comestibles by twice-coating the food with a wheat flour-shortening based batter mixture, twice-frying the foodstuff and then reconstituting it either by microwaving or baking. European Patent Application No. 89300957.1 of DCA Food Industries, Inc. discloses a process for preparing a microwaveable partially pre-cooked and pre-fried food pie which is a foodstuff enwrapped by a high fat dough containing about 13 wt-% vegetable shortening, and coated with a batter slurry formulated without the use of high amylose flour.
Batters having a high amylose content have also been described. Amylose, the essentially-linear fraction of starch, has been shown to be an effective film-forming compound. As such, high amylose starch is useful in coating foodstuffs due to its ability to provide uniform films. Moreover, the film when fried aids in reducing oil absorption and provides crispness to the foodstuff as well.
Batters with high amylose content have been coated directly onto the surface of foodstuffs in an attempt to provide a crust-like coating when the foodstuff is fried and later microwaved. U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,607 and 4,595,597 to Lenchin, et al. disclose a high amylose flour-based batter for coating directly onto the surface of fresh and frozen foodstuffs such as fish, poultry, meat and vegetable products which are then partially cooked in oil, frozen, and subsequently cooked to completion by microwaving.
High amylose batters have been formulated for coating dough-covered foodstuffs to provide crispy crusts when subsequently fried in oil. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,786 to Junge describes coating a frozen dough-covered food product with a starch slurry comprised of high amylose corn starch, wheat flour, citric acid and water to provide a crust-like enclosure when the food product is deep fat fried. Junge discloses controlling the pH of the starch slurry with edible acid such as citric acid, a pH of between 2 and 5.5 being necessary to produce a tender crust-like enclosure. It is preferred that the slurry coated product of Junge is coated with a high melting point lipid to provide a moisture barrier.
To date, there have been no formulations of a high amylose flour-based batter coating on a dough in which a foodstuff has been enrobed, wherein the batter will provide an adherent and evenly distributed coating over the surface of the dough, and which, after pre-frying in oil, optionally frozen or subjected to frozen storage, and then cooked by microwave radiation, will result in a cooked foodstuff covered by a cooked, moist, white dough layer and an outer batter crust coating having an appealing toast color and a desired level of crispness.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a high amylose flour-based dry batter mixture which, when mixed with a liquid such as water to form a wet batter slurry, will provide an adherent and uniform film coating on a dough-enrobed foodstuff. It is a further object of the invention that the batter coating on the dough-enrobed foodstuff, when pre-fried in hot oil or fat, optionally frozen, and subjected to microwave radiation, will provide a crisp, porous, and browned outer crust on the surface of the dough-enrobed foodstuff product. Another object of the invention is to provide a foodstuff filling enrobed in a flour-based dough and coated with a high amylose flour-based batter slurry, which after being pre-fried in hot oil or fat, optionally frozen, and reconstituted and/or cooked to completeness by microwave radiation, has a cooked soft, moist, white dough layer which lacks oiliness and gumminess, overlaid by a crisp, porous, browned, and appetizing outer crust.